Nikoi Island [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]

We had a very short snooze after a whole day of shooting, but I found myself up again at 2am and 3am to check out the stars. Quite unfortunately, the stars were visible at 2am, but the clouds came rolling in by the time I had my camera set up. Was hoping to do some star trails and get pictures of the milky way! Our next consolation came when we trotted out again before 6am to see if we could get a glimpse of the rising sun.

Behind the scenes photos courtesy of James and my Galaxy S4. 🙂

1. Predawn

   Predawn, the first hints of sunrise at the eastern mangroves



2. Predawn

   There were many mangrove trees and rock formations that make ideal subjects for a sunrise shot



3. Predawn

   I just kept myself busy taking 1 or 2 shots and walking around to shoot from various angles. I didn’t have any filters so these are just basic snap shots.



4. Predawn

   At low tide, the mangroves allowed me to walk really far away from land!



5. Looking back at Nikoi Island

   Looking back at Nikoi Island, it was actually already quite a distance away – this picture was cropped.



6. Sunrise behind Rock Formations

   Sun peeking out from behind the rocks with birds flying past



7. Mangrove Trees

   Had enough of the sunrise and went back for some record shots of the mangrove trees



8. James was contented with shooting from afar



9. Mangrove Trees

   There was a long stretch of the mangrove trees



10. Mangrove Trees

    Interesting patterns can be observed on the exposed roots



11. Interesting face we found on some of the dead corals



12. Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita sp.)

    Went back to the cabin for a break and found a Land Hermit Crab loitering around. Yup thats our cabin in the background!



13. Kissing the grass to get close-up shots of the visiting Land Hermit Crab



14. Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita sp.)

    Good morning stretch



15. Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita sp.)

    Going even closer. The Land Hermit Crab had a very vibrant purple hue.



16. Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita sp.)

    Decided not to entertain me anymore and walked away…



17. Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita sp.)

    Oops, almost tripped!



18. Boring Clam (Tridacna crocea)

    James found this Boring Clam . Looks boring alright.



19. I tried to get closer shots of the boring clam.



20. Boring Clam (Tridacna crocea)

    Looking up close at the Boring Clam … not boring at all with the vibrant blue!



21. Boring Clam (Tridacna crocea)

    As the tide came up, the Boring Clam got submerged in water, revealing even more of the “lips”.



22. Hermit Crab (Paguroidea)

    James also found this tiny Hermit Crab



23. Long Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria leucospilota)

    There was also a Long Black Sea Cucumber crawling around



24. Ghost Crab (Ocypode sp.)

    We found a Ghost Crab scurrying about on the sands. It wouldn’t stay still for us to shoot until it got onto my hand!



25. Ghost Crab (Ocypode sp.)

    In a bid to escape from us, it got rather dirty in a different patch of sand.



26. Ghost Crab (Ocypode sp.)

    Ghost Crab adjusting it’s eye.. lol



27. Wasp

    Digger Wasp that I was chasing all over the sandy paths. Meanwhile, many walked by giving me strange stares.



28. Wasp

    Spider Wasp . This wasp hunts spiders in a rather cruel manner – by dismembering them.



29. Orb Web Spider (Araneidae)

    Orb Web Spider



30. An unidentified spider that walked up to me while I was trying to shoot the antlion larvae beside our cabin



31. There were many sand pits beside our cabin, which belonged to antlion larvae. Occasionally the monitor lizards would also come by to visit us.



32. The staff said that the monitor lizards liked to stay beneath the owners’ cabins. That’s me playing hide and seek with the antlions.



33. Antlion larva (Myrmeleontidae)

    Antlion larva hiding in the sand



34. Antlion larva (Myrmeleontidae)

    Managed to lure one Antlion larva out, all ready to pince on any passer-by!



35. Antlion larva (Myrmeleontidae)

    The Antlion larva slowly backed into the sand when it realized it was just some irritating human…

It was a short day as we hardly got to sleep the night before. Decided to hit the sack earlier and do a solid walk the next day before we leave Nikoi. Check out the photos from Day 3 here.

The complete album for Day 2 can be viewed here (sunrise) and here (macro).

Nikoi Island [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 ]

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